Image transfer methods of the type just referred to have long been known, one application being the transfer of images to T-shirts. However, until the present, no known methods of such type have been sufficiently reliable in use and sufficiently easy to use to be widely accepted and practiced in commercial T-shirt shops. Instead, such shops generally rely on the use of decorative decals or "transfers" which are selected by customers and are then permanently fused and affixed to the T-shirts through the use of a heat transfer press which is part of the normal equipment of a T-shirt store.
Prior tacky contact adhesive carrier type image transfer methods have included methods in which the indicia carrier is covered by a thermoplastic elastomer layer which is intended to be fused to the fabric to anchor the indicia carrier to the fabric and to protect the transferred indicia against abrasion, laundering, and the like, as for example in the method shown in Stuart U.S. Pat. No. 3,985,602. Such fusing of the thermoplastic elastomer anchoring layer requires application of heat while at the same time dimensional stability and integrity of the indicia carrier are required to be maintained. For the latter purpose, temporary support layers have been provided over the thermoplastic elastomer layer. Such temporary support layers are maintained as part of the web construction through several steps of the transfer process, and are intended to be removed only following initial application of heat and partial fusing of the thermoplastic elastomer anchoring layer to the fabric. Additional heat is then provided to complete fusing. However, initial application of heat through the temporary support web to accomplish partial fusing of the thermoplastic elastomer has not been generally satisfactory because of damage to the temporary support layer and interference of such procedure with proper release of the temporary support layer. Such interference causes partial lifting and distortion of the indicia carrier layer when stripping away of the temporary support layer is attempted. Accordingly, in actual practice of such method, reliance has been placed on preheating of the fabric alone prior to application of the indicia carrying layers, followed by application of the indicia carrying layers against the warm fabric, whose residual heat is counted on to partially fuse the thermoplastic elastomer prior to stripping of the temporary support layer. While this procedure has been preferable to applying heat through the temporary support layer, the partial fusing establishes a bond that is so lacking in uniform firmness that proper release of the temporary support without lifting and distortion of the indicia carrier member is still a chancey matter, so much so that marketing of this procedure has been generally limited to home use (heating being done with an iron) where time is not an important factor and where frequent failures and unreliable performance are tolerated to some degree, as distinguished from commercial use in T-shirt shops, where the operator must be able to quickly and reliably accomplish transfer.
Other image transfer methods have been provided, but none have been sufficiently reliable in use and sufficiently easy to use to be widely accepted and practiced in commercial T-shirt shops. Examples of prior methods and devices are found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,344,012; 3,607,525; and 3,607,526, which relate in part to image transfer to solid surfaces rather than to fabrics.